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Although scholars had suggested that there were correspondences between same-numbered cantos that begged to be explored, this approach had never been pursued in a systematic fashion across the poem. The introduction to the first volume sets out the novel project of 'vertical readings in Dante's Comedy', which involved an international team of thirty-four scholars. The introduction surveys the history of approaches of this kind, outlines some interpretative justifications for such a reading of the poem, and summarises some of the insights of the chapters in the volume.